Cameron Complex
by Brylee16
Summary: "Cameron could tell it was him right away by the way he was sitting there, all by himself, head down, looking lonely and lost. For a moment, she couldn't move, only stand there by the entrance and stare at the back of his head. It felt like her heart was contracting somehow. Then the wish to walk up to him, say his name and put a hand on his shoulder kicked in." Chase/Cameron


**Title:** Cameron Complex

**Author:** Brylee16

**Disclaimer:** None of the characters are mine... unfortunately. ;)

**Spoiler:** It's set somewhere at the end of „Cursed", the 13th episode of the first season. Kind of like an alternative ending. So obviously it might contain some information about that particular episode!

**Summary:** We know how it is. Cameron just can't help it. So when Chase is emotionally troubled by his father's visit and decides to get wasted all by himself, Cameron simply can't fight down the urge to track him down and make him feel better... (: Chase/Cameron mostly between the lines...

Allison Cameron was walking around the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, desperatedly trying to find her collegue Dr. Robert Chase. Their conversation from earlier was still echoing in her head. She'd been trying to find out more about his past and the reason why he hated his father so much, but Chase had distanced himself and made clear that he didn't want to talk about it.

Now that their case was solved and little Gabe was taking the medicine he needed to cure his leprosy, Cameron's instincts told her that it was time to confront Chase again and comfort him as best as she could. Only, he wasn't anywhere to be found. Finally, she entered House's office, but of course Chase wasn't there. Somebody else was, though.

"House!"

"It's _my_ office. Who did you expect?" He was sitting on the chair behind his desk in the usual position, while playing with a ball that he would pop up and catch with his cane. Cameron stepped in front of him, arms akimbo. "Where's Chase?"

"You mean Junior or Senior?"

Cameron let out a sigh. Obviously she meant the younger one. Then again, it wouldn't hurt to know where Chase's father had gone... "Both."

"Hm... baby Chasey is probably at home, hiding under the covers and crying his pretty little eyes out. As for daddy, he went back to Kangaroo land."

House sounded amused and Cameron didn't like it. It was obvious that Chase had been really upset by his dad's unexpected appearance and now wasn't the time to joke about it!

"That's not funny!"

House shrugged. "Never said it was. Actually, I know more about the dramatic backround of wombat daddy's visit than you do, Cameron! A lot more!"

"So?" Cameron raised her eyebrows, scrutinizing her boss. Was he just bluffing? "What is it? What do you know?"

"Well, of course I can't _tell_ you! Duh!" He casually picked up on his little game with the ball and the cane, pretending to be all relaxed. "I sort of promised Senior to keep his secret."

Cameron simply frowned and didn't take her eyes off House, hoping that her glare would eventually make him give in (with little hope, though). "And since when does Dr. Gregory House stick to his promises?"

"It was pretty much an agreement between geniouses, so I feel obliged to keep it, you see?"

"Are you honestly telling me that you didn't have your fingers crossed or something?"

A boyish smile crossed House's face and he said: "Um... actually I did, so at least there's room for-"

"Just tell me what you know!" Cameron was getting impatient and fed up with the chit chatting.

She wanted to find Chase and be there for him! Where ever he was, she knew that he was going through something terrible and needed someone else to help him deal with it!

House put on a superior expression. "I'll tell you this much: Chase Senior came for a specific reason and I believe that Chase Junior should know about it."

"Then why don't you just tell him, if you think he has a right to know?"

House rolled his eyes at her, and answered with exaggerated annoyment: "The promise part, remember? I can be a person with moral values, too!"

"You know, I will tell him for you, if only you tell me what it is."

House cocked his head as if he was seriously considering the offer. Then he looked up, staring straight at Cameron. "Why do you care so much anyways?"

She looked away, felt herself blush a little. "I just... I care." An awkward silence was about to spread, so Cameron quickly continued: "Real question is, why don't you care? You should!"

"Care about Chase?!" House looked honestly bewildered.

"Well, yeah! He's your employee and you wouldn't want to be looking for a new intensivist soon, right? Brilliant doctors like him are rare!"

"Hey! I thought 'brilliant' as a term was reserved for me exclusively!"

Cameron rolled her eyes at her boss and started wondering whether she would get any information out of him at all. She decided to give it one more try: "Tell me where Chase went!"

"Gee, you're not gonna leave me alone, are you?"

Hm... she could try to threaten him. "Nope. Might even follow you to your apartment and terrorize you all night!"

House chuckled. "Wow. I'm glad that didn't just get awkward and... strangely sexual!"

Cameron snorted and shook her head in annoyance. Obviously, her talk with House had been a waste of time. "I'll just go looking for him and tell him that he should call his dad", she stated as she turned around, started walking away from House and only turned over her shoulder to say sarcastically: "Thanks for the big help!"

"Chase is probably out drinking."

Cameron raised her eyebrows. That was at least some kind of hint. "Thanks", she said stiffly.

House only nodded, so she left. All the way out of the building Cameron couldn't stop wondering about the secret that House was keeping from her...

The third bar was crowded, the air was filled with smoke and the smell of whiskey, and it was warm. As Cameron took off her black leather jacket, she started looking around and noticed a slumped figure with a broad back and blonde hair over by the counter. Cameron could tell it was him right away by the way he was sitting there, all by himself, head down, looking lonely and lost. For a moment, she couldn't move, only stand there by the entrance and stare at the back of his head. It felt like her heart was contracting somehow. Then the wish to walk up to him, say his name and put a hand on his shoulder kicked in. Chase didn't even notice her, until she pushed back a stool for herself and took a seat right next to him. Still the Aussie had his gaze fixed on the empty glass in front of him, looking absent-minded and hurt. Cameron cleared her throat. Still no reaction.

"Chase?"

Now he gave a jerk and turned his head abruptly. Apparently, though, it took him a moment to fix his eyes on her face and recognize her. _Oh dear, he's drunk, _Cameron thought to herself.

"Cameron?" His speech was slightly slurred. Now Cameron noticed the three other empty glasses in front of him. She sighed almost inaudibly and inquired: "How are you?"

Chase frowned and reached out for his glass, then moaned when he noticed that it was empty. "What do you want from me?"

Cameron shrugged, feeling uncomfortable all the sudden. She hadn't exactly expected Chase to confront her like that. After all, wasn't it nice of her to worry...?

Chase shook his head, pressed his lips together and turned to the bartender, asking for another drink.

"I think you should stop drinking now!", Cameron blurted, before she had time to stop and think.

"Oh yeah? I think you should leave me alone", Chase snapped. The bartender handed him his drink without a comment, Chase grabbed the glass and took a sip right away, as if he was trying to make a point. To Cameron, his words felt like a slap in the face. For just a second, she considered leaving him alone and minding her own business for once. Then she remembered that she'd come to comfort him and it was probably only natural for a person in his situation to fight any kind of emotional support at first. _Eventually_, however, he would give in to it and be thankful...

"I won't just leave you alone now, Robert!", she said as gently as she could.

He shot her a glare and mouthed "Creepy", before taking another sip of alcohol. With his face flushed from the whiskey and his hair all messy, he looked a lot like a teenage boy. It took Cameron a lot of self-control to not simply reach out and pull her collegue into a tight embrace.

"You don't have to talk about it", she suggested, trying to approach him again slowly.

"Good. Because I won't." Without flinching he chugged the rest of his drink. Cameron was starting to worry, because she'd never seen Chase drunk before. For a while, they sat in silence, avoiding to look at each other directly. Then Cameron took a deep breath and reached out for his hand. Chase pulled away immdiately, jumping off his seat.

"I'm sorry!", she exclaimed, but it wasn't enough.

"I thought we had this, Cameron!", Chase yelled. "I don't want to talk with you or anyone! Do me a favor and leave me alone! My life is none of your business!"

His words hurt and she had to blink and bite her lip. Chase threw a couple of money bills on the counter and turned around without another word. Clearly, it had been his intention to get away from her as quickly as possible. However, the alcohol in his system prevented him from walking straight and he stumbled towards the entrance, turning his head one last time to look at her with a facial expression that seemed to be saying: 'Better not follow me!' And then, right when he turned his head back around, Robert Chase ran straight into the door frame. Cameron gasped and slid off her stool right away, so she could be at the blonde's side about two seconds later. Chase looked pale and startled, he was breathing heavily. In his current state, he even allowed Cameron to grab hold of his arm with her one hand, while clutching tight at his wrist with the other. She used gentle force to make him remove his hands from his face, revealing a bloody nose.

"Oh no...", Cameron sighed and started searching in her pockets for a tissue.

Chase, who seemed to remember that he had been on his way out, turned around while putting his hands to his face again, collecting the blood in them so it wouldn't drop onto his clothes. Cameron, on the other hand, felt like she didn't have a choice somehow. Not only was Chase emotionally hurt and drunk, now he was also _bleeding_. It was like some kind of force was pulling her towards him and there was just no way that she would let him go home all by himself.

A couple of steps away from the bar, out on the street, Chase turned around and looked down at Cameron, who was following him persistenly. "Honestly?"

She nodded. "Not gonna leave you alone."

He rolled his eyes at her, immediately having to prop himself up against the wall of a building.

It was almost funny how he lost balance that easily. And it confirmed Cameron's suspicion that he was in fact really drunk, meaning that she couldn't leave his side. He needed help right now in so many ways! "Cameron", Chase said, speaking more slowly than usual. "I dunno what you want from me... but I'm fine, kay?" His articulation was also suffering from the amount of alcohol in his system.

"You're bleeding!"

He shrugged it off. "It's nuthin'."

"You're drunk."

"Nuh-uh."

"You can barely walk!"

"So what? You gunna come and pretend to be my walking aid?"

"Not a bad idea, actually", Cameron answered with a smile, caught up with him and took hold of his arm. He protested only slightly, soon having to cover his face with his hands again. Cameron started looking for a tissue again, but couldn't find one. She knew it was only a matter of minutes, though, until they would arrive at his apartment.

"So", Chase said, sounding grumpy. "Did House send you to find me?"

"No!", she said and could barely keep herself from adding: 'He doesn't care about you!'

"So it's just part of your weird complex then, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" She started feeling uncomfortable again. What kind of complex was Chase talking about? Was _that_ his way of thanking her?!  
Chase sighed as if it was obvious. "Your Cameron Complex. You always need to be there for people and comfort them, even if they _don't want your help_. I don't know whether you just need that for your self-esteem or your actually somehow attracted by vulnerability and emotional hurt..." He trailed off and Cameron said nothing, because she didn't know how to respond. Well, at least Chase sounded surprisingly sober all the sudden, talking in long and complicated sentences like that.

After a while they reached his apartment. Cameron waited for Chase to take out his keys, but he only looked at her, shifting from one foot to the other. "Don't you have your keys?", she asked.

He seemed a little embarrassed. "Can you take them out of my pocket please? I can't take my hands off my face without bleeding all over my own doorstep!"

Cameron's heart melted when she saw the needy look in his puppy eyes, so she nodded and did as he had asked. A moment later they were inside, Chase heading straight to the bathroom and Cameron looking around wearily, until she discovered the light switch and found out that for being the apartment of a bachelor, Chase's living space was pretty clean and tidy. She started looking around at the plain but elegant furniture, when she was interrupted by particular choking noises that could only mean one thing. "Told you, you were drunk!", she yelled, wondering whether she should open the bathroom door or not. Somehow it seemed like she should really try not to upset him further and instead keep an appropriate distance. On the other hand, she had intruded Chase's private space _already_... Entering the bathroom wasn't going to change matters dramatically, she told herself, and stepped inside. The blonde doctor was bending over the toilet, throwing up all the contents of his stomach. Cameron waited politely until he was done and now able to turn around, propped up against the wall.

"How are you feeling?", Cameron asked, unable to keep the concerned tone out of her voice.

"I want aspirin!", Chase moaned in response. "Got a headache from running into that bloody doorframe...!"

His whiny tone and miserable expression were really getting to Cameron, so she quickly said:

"You shouldn't mix medication and alcohol!"

"Thanks!", he snapped. "I'm a doctor myself, you know!"

Cameron wanted to run to him, hold him tight, kiss the top of his head, tell him he'd feel better soon... Instead she turned around and filled a toothbrush cup with tap water. She handed it to him and he accepted it in silence, taking a sip to wash his mouth with. Next she picked out one of his wash cloths and poured some warm water from the fossit over it. While he gladly took it from her to wash off his face, Cameron asked: "How's your nose?"

"Better. I think the puking made the bleeding stop. Does that even make sense?"

"Not sure", Cameron responded with a smile. Then her gaze stopped somewhere below his chin.

"Your shirt got dirty!", she stated, scrutinizing the splashes of blood and vomit.

"I noticed!" Since Chase was still pissed-off, Cameron didn't ask for his permission before entering his bedroom and grabbing a clean T-shirt out of the closet. It was a plain grey shirt that looked like he usually slept in it and Cameron had never seen him in anything like it. After he put it on – reluctantly and with embarrassment – he looked even more like a child. Cameron felt her own heart rate increase significantly and decided that it was time to leave the room, before she could literally jump on him and suffocate him with her affection and comfort.

"Where you going?", he called after her and a smile crossed her face. _So he _does_ want me here after all...!_

"Gonna make us tea!" She ignored his protests about her invading his personal space (she'd been in his bathroom! What could be so special about his kitchen?) and his claims about not owning any tea (Yeah right! He was British, after all! Well, sort of...)

While the water was cooking, Cameron was busy with constantly reminding herself of the fact that she worked with Chase and that this night was an excpetion, because he'd probably never be this vulnerable again. She took a deep breath – _you work with him –_ and walked into the living room, two steaming cups in each one of her hands. In the doorframe, she stopped. And so did her heart, for a moment. Chase was sitting on the couch, his knees tucked up to his face, which he was hiding behind them. His whole body was trembling a little and sobs were emerging from somewhere behind his thighs in short intervals. This was too much for Cameron! As soon as she had snapped out of her moment of shock, she rushed over to the couch, set down the cups on the coffee table, let herself drop down besides the crying man and pulled him into a tight hug. When the sound of the sobbing didn't stop, Cameron found herself rocking him a little. "It's okay", she whispered. "I won't judge you! I don't even know your story! But I'm here for you, Robert! It's okay..." She was talking to him in the voice she usually reserved for infants or hysterical patients and, to her satisfaction, it seemed to work on crying Chases also. At some point she had him back to breathing normally and stopped rocking him. He looked up at her, his blue eyes wide and filled with tears.

"Can I tell you something?", he asked in a little-boy voice and she automatically pulled him a little closer to herself.

"Of course. Anything!"

He closed his eyes for a moment, then whispered: "My mom was an alcoholic! She drank herself to death. And I could only stand and watch!"

"Oh, Robert...", she said quietly, her voice soft and sympathetic. He continued undeterredly: "It was my dad's fault. He left her and I still don't know why. The bastard just walked out on us, leaving her alone with her misery. She felt rejected and worthless, started drinking all day, every day. I was 15 years old, Cameron! I wanted to help her, I tried everything!"

"I'm so sorry!", she whispered and fought against the tears dwelling up in her own eyes.

"It was too much for me! I couldn't help her and she couldn't help herself. Sometimes it was like I didn't even exist for her anymore! All she cared about was the booze! She let herself go and eventually I had to let her go...!"

"I'm so sorry!", Cameron repeated and Chase started crying again. "I hate him so much!", he blurted, choking on his tears. "When he showed up, just like that...! I gave him all my love when I was a kid, but what he did is too much! I can't seem to forgive him! It's like he killed my mom! It was his fault and he can't deny it!"

"What did he say to you?", Cameron interrupted quietly. Now that she knew that Chase's father had walked out on his family, the reason for his visit interested her even more.

Chase wiped the wetness off his cheecks with an aggressive motion. "Said he left her and not me. Hah! He left me to take care of her, which I couldn't! He ruined my teen years! He was never there for her or me after he left!"

Cameron considered pointing out that Chase's dad probably still loved him, even though he'd made a mistake, but then she just bit her tongue and listened to what Chase had to say. She knew that sometimes keeping quiet was the best way to comfort a person.

About 15 minutes later, apparently Chase was done talking. He'd opened up to Cameron, told her all about the ways he'd tried to help his mom and how he'd failed. Told her about his mixed feelings for his father and his own feeling of guilt for not being able to safe his mother. Recalled stories from right before her death and how desperate he had been for his father's support. Outlined to her how the unexpected visit of his father had torn open all these wounds...

Now that he was done, the blonde was just sitting there, embracing his own body with his arms.

"I feel terrible", he stated after a while.

"Headache? Nausea?", Cameron inquired. The alcohol and the running-into-a-solid-doorframe part of the evening had obviously put a strain on Robert Chase.

"That, too."

"Maybe you should just sleep a little", she suggested and started rubbing his back in a motherly sort of way. He tolerated it for a while, then got up. "I should."

With a growing feeling of insecurity, Cameron followed him into the bedroom. Chase, however, didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed pretty out of it, Cameron thought. This idea was confirmed when he took of his pants in front of her without a moment of hesitation and slipped into his bed without another word. Cameron had a strong feeling that this was the moment for her to leave, but she also felt that she had something left to say. "I think you should call your dad!"

Chase, who had already closed his eyes, mumbled: "Cameron, sorry, but that's none of your business."

She felt a little sting somewhere in her stomach area, but decided to igore it. It seemed like Chase had already fallen asleep anyways. "I'm sorry I invaded your private space", she whispered, feeling confident enough to say it, since he had drifted off anyways.

She switched off the light and was on her way out,when he spoke again and Cameron jerked around in surprise. "It's okay", Chase whispered and it sounded like he was smiling. "I know you can't help it. It's just your weird Cameron Complex."

THE END


End file.
